Research

[close] International Anti-Black Racism

[close] The conversations researchers wish someone had with them before starting a PhD. A PhD is often presented as an intellectual journey. What is discussed far less are the unwritten rules that shape the experience: Navigating uncertainty when progress feels invisible. Dealing with imposter syndrome despite years of achievement. Managing difficult supervisor relationships and academic politics. Surviving burnout, isolation, and research fatigue. Building resilience in environments that constantly test your confidence. Making sense of academic culture, expectations, and career decisions. The Unwritten PhD is a community for honest, thoughtful conversations about the realities of research life that rarely appear in textbooks, university orientations, or methodology courses. Whether you are: considering a PhD, currently navigating graduate school, writing your dissertation, completing a postdoc, or reflecting on your journey beyond academia, you are welcome here. This is a space to share experiences, lessons learned, challenges, failures, victories, and the insights that only emerge through lived experience. Our goal is simple: To help researchers navigate academia with greater clarity, resilience, and self-awareness—while remembering that behind every publication, thesis, and experiment is a human being. Welcome to The Unwritten PhD.

[close] "By Your Boot Straps" is for discussing books and resources that help people "pick themselves up by their boot straps". In other words, this is to give visibility to resources, books, authors and new research that can help folks who are stuck/debilitated, frustrated, low-energy or poorly resourced, in the doldrums or otherwise in need of rejuvenating their lives. Areas of discussion will include, but not limited to, enhancing physical, psychological, financial, spiritual and other areas of wellness. Examples of books that members are encouraged to discuss and suggest include motivation, various business and personal self-help strategies, financial, humor, meditation, the spiritual classics & modern perspectives, new psycho-physiological research & practical application as well as constructive mood-enhancing and stress-relieving strategies from natural medicine to thrilling and humorous tales as therapy.

[close] Reading and writing group for employees and friends of Institute of Electronics and Computer Science (EDI), Riga, Latvia